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By all accounts, Shirley and Nina both present delectable plates of food that could be worthy of winning Restaurant Wars. Carlos is less fortunate, but his mistakes in cooking are exacerbated by the woes of the serving staff. Nothing ever tastes as good when it is served cold. And Justin fails mightily in his attempt to control the kitchen despite the chaos upfront. Customers repeatedly wait on dishes that prove to be disappointing when finally served.

The strangest part is Sara’s behavior with the judges. When she delivers dishes, there is no presentation whatsoever. After the first meal, Tom and David are amused by her behavior. After Sara tries to walk away without a dish description the second time, Padma sardonically asks what it is. Sara grudgingly explains the food. Then, she quickly leaves again. On the next two occasions, the struggling hostess repeats the process of placing the plates without vocalizing their content.

The only dish that Sara does describe is her own, and it is broken. The sauce she wanted to add to her dessert, a key component of the recipe, does not make the dish. Sara effectively presents the judges with cake. Knowing that this is not good, she tries to save face by describing it in glowing terms. This tactic backfires in a big way.

Amusingly, there is some mystery among the contestants about who won. The staff of Fin is oblivious of the disaster that transpired in the competing kitchen. To their minds, they were the underdogs so they pushed as hard as possible, hoping to achieve an upset. What they do not realize is that if this were a Little League softball game, the Mercy Rule would have been invoked several innings ago.

The judges invite Fin’s members to the back. There, they are announced as the winners of Restaurant Wars. This is as shocking as the announcement that Reagan beat Mondale in 1984. What becomes clear during the celebratory conversation is that if the team had lost, Brian would have been sent home for his ajar ajar mistake. The difference between winning and losing on Top Chef is that narrow at times. Meanwhile, Nick the executive chef is lauded as the winner of Restaurant Wars. He is also informed by David Chang that he had the best dish. Travis also deserves special mention because his performance with Front of the House is arguably the best ever.

The loser’s bracket features many frayed nerves. Justin and Sara, to their credit, do not throw each other under the bus as I had anticipated. They aren’t bosom buddies right now, though. They are equally frustrated by a night that felt like the logical extreme of Murphy’s Law. Nothing went right. Justin is berated for his failings as a chef, but the knives are out for Sara.

Padma is dialed up over Sara’s handling of the judges during meal presentation. She has a particularly large ax to grind over one aspect. Sara failed to highlight any dishes other than her own. I honestly believe that there is an explanation for this mistake that is not self-serving. Sara was worried in the early moments that any comments she made would allow the judges to realize what a catastrophe the night had been. She remained quiet, choosing to be thought the fool. I respect that.

What changed the calculus is that her emulsion broke. At that point, she had entrusted the preparation of her dessert dish with people who failed her. Yes, she was partially responsible for that because the chaos with the servers directly caused many mistakes. When she had the epiphany that Front of the House was a disaster and her dish was terrible to boot, Sara tried to make lemonade out of lemons.

Padma only tasted the sour. What she believed is that Sara was in it for herself. I am of the opinion that this was not true. The looks exchanged by Nina and Shirley indicate that they saw it Padma’s way, at least at the time. Hopefully, now that they have watched the episode, they understand Sara’s behavior a bit more. It is the difference between panic and intentional neglect, something we saw with Josie last season.

No matter whether Sara is guilty of the crime for which she was accused, she is the one eliminated. The choices were Justin and her for the reasons noted above. There is a pattern during Restaurant Wars that is hard to ignore by now. Had Sara performed well with Front of the House, Justin would have deserved to go home even more. The problem is that there is a chicken and the egg aspect to such a discussion. Would Justin have done so poorly if the orders had been presented in a more organized fashion? We will never know. As such, Sara is the proper choice for elimination. It’s unfortunate in that the season loses a lot of personality with her absence.

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